I can’t sleep because I am nervous for today. We have family court, and Starlet’s mom is supposed to sign a conditional surrender of parental rights, which will then make him legally free for adoption, and we will finally be able to sign our official Intent To Adopt. We had a previous date for this a couple months ago, but his mom wasn’t ready to sign. If she doesn’t sign this time, I’m not sure what will happen. The judge will either make a new court date a couple months from now, or she will move to go to a TPR trial, where the foster care lawyer will have to prove through evidence that his mom is unfit to parent. If we move to TPR, it could take up to two years before he is legally free to adopt. He would be 16 by then. I am really hoping his mom signs the surrender today, but I am also afraid.
Her incentive to sign the conditional surrender is that it comes with conditions. It states we must let her visit him a certain number of times per year (though, unofficially, we can do as many visits as we want) and we will be legally required to follow through. With a TPR trial, any future contact between them would be up to us.
The judge and lawyers consider us a low-priority case, because he is already in a stable and permanent home, so I am worried they will keep letting this drag on and on.